


Just Bros Being (Eco-Friendly) Bros

by TalysAlankil



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Getting Together, M/M, Nudity, Roommates, Sexuality Crisis, Sharing a Bed, showering together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:02:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24646111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TalysAlankil/pseuds/TalysAlankil
Summary: Sora moves in to a new town, and meets his new roommate, Riku. Their new living arrangements quickly force them in close proximity.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 72





	Just Bros Being (Eco-Friendly) Bros

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [AuroraPeachy](http://twitch.tv/AuroraPeachy)'s latest Soriku Sims stream.

The house was a bit of a mess, to put it mildly. But there had only been so many options for Sora, since he needed to find a place to rent where he would have space to set up his beehives, where his pets would be accepted, and he could get the lease signed without ever visiting beforehand, what with moving here from across the country. He'd had to take what he could get, and what he could get was this.

The house's flaws weren't awful enough to send him packing. The house was old and decrepit, the poor lighting and window placement making it feel gloomy even now, at noon. The furniture ranging from sad and barely usable to 'better throw it away than use it and risk a disaster' in his mind. And of course, Sora had to accept having a roommate, a guy he'd never even met since, again, Sora had moved here completely blind. But the living area was pretty roomy, and the television looked recent enough to plug in his console; and the kitchen in one corner was surprisingly modern too. He could live here, and that was what mattered.

Really, it was a miracle that the house was real at all, all things considered. But maybe that was just the optimist in him talking.

The landlord, a weary-sounding old man named Ansem, had just led him to the living room when the doorbell rang. "That must be the other tenant," Ansem said. "Excuse me a moment."

He went down the hallway and Sora was left to wait, anxious. He wanted to make a good first impression, but how did one even _do_ that? Should he take a seat as he waited? Remain standing, to show he was willing to wait for them? Should he put down his backpack and start unpacking to show initiative, or keep it so he could talk to his roommate about where they would put their belongings? Sora had no precedent to go by, and no clue what was best.

In the end, he'd more or less frozen in place, staring out the window to the backyard, when Ansem returned with his would-he roommate. He was a young man about Sora's age, though much taller, his physique built for strength tempered by a kind shine in his eyes.

"'Sup," Sora said, immediately feeling silly for his choice of greeting. "Name's Sora."

"I'm Riku," his roommate replied more gingerly. "Nice to meet you."

* * *

Ansem didn't take much longer with the introductions; he didn't even take the time to show them around the whole house. This was just as well for Sora; he had plenty to do to unpack, and no real expectations from this landlord.

After he'd handed Sora and Riku a set of keys each and left, though, Sora hesitated. His stuff was waiting in his car outside, but was it okay to just go straight for it?

Riku met his hesitant gaze with an equally unsure look. "So—" he started. "I've never had a roommate before."

Sora couldn't help but sigh in relief. "Me neither. I have _no_ idea what I'm doing."

"I guess we should get settled in, right? I only have the one suitcase, so do you need any help with carrying your stuff?"

Only one suitcase? Sora frowned, but he didn't comment on it. "Yeah," he said, grateful. "Um…first of all, are you allergic to bees? Because if you are, then no, actually, you shouldn't help. And we might have a problem in general."

"Bees?" Riku frowned. "No, why—" His eyes flew wide after a moment. "Do you have _bees_?"

Sora allowed himself an embarrassed smile. "Yeah?"

"Dude, that is _so cool_! I mean, I knew it was allowed in this neighborhood, but I didn't think my own roommate would keep bees!"

"Cool?" Sora had never gotten _that_ sort of reaction in the past. "I—well, thanks?" This felt too good to be true; the other shoe had to drop eventually. Bracing himself, he said. "What about pets? Specifically cats and dogs? Because I have one of each."

"I'm okay with pets—wouldn't have picked this place otherwise. I don't have any, but I'm good with animals." Riku walked across the living room until he was right in front of Sora, at the edge of the hallway leading to the front door. "We should go. Don't wanna leave them all locked up, right?"

"Oh." He was suddenly very close, close enough that Sora could see the faint, yet bright smile on his lips. "Um—yeah. You're right, we should."

* * *

With Riku's help, it was a lot easier to carry Sora's three beehives to the backyard and get them set up. They brought in all of Sora's other stuff, most of which was for his pets: cat and dog beds, a litter box, a scratch post—which Sora hoped to upgrade to a cat tree eventually—water dispensers, and a collection of toys Sora had been building up for practically his entire life.

As they did, Sora couldn't help himself from chatting with Riku, and Riku didn't seem to mind the small talk. He learned that they had more in common than he'd thought: chief among them, Riku had also moved here out of an idealistic desire to fight for the environment. His goal was to undermine the activities of an oil company in the region along with an activist group, and since they knew that these battles could take years, he'd had to find lodgings.

When he heard about that, Sora perked up. "Do you think I could meet them? I moved from across the country, so I don't really know anyone around here, but this is exactly the sort of cause I'm into." He was more about self-sustainability, the only use he'd gotten out of his years going for a bioengineering degree then dropping out halfway through, but he knew the importance of engaging in direct action from time to time.

Finally, Sora's car was empty, and they went for the boys themselves: Sora's dog Goofy and his cat Donald. Sora had waited to set them loose in the house so they wouldn't get underfoot or risk going out on the road, although judging by the way Donald immediately found his bed and Goofy ran after Riku with a curious and friendly wag of his tail, Sora doubted that he'd needed to worry at all.

Both Riku and Sora felt winded from carrying all that stuff inside, so they agreed to hold off on unpacking the rest of their stuff. It was probably stupid to start cohabitation by deciding to be lazy, but at least they were doing it together, Sora figured. Riku took out two soda bottles from the fridge—a modest present from their landlord—and they went out into the backyard. Goofy was more than happy to follow them and stretch his legs, and Donald followed too a moment later, though he made a show of acting indignant about waking up.

There was a small porch, though no furniture on it. Still, Sora was comfortable enough once he leaned back against the railing, half-sitting on it. He drank straight from the glass bottle, and Riku came to stand beside him, resting his elbows on the railing and looking out at the garden in front of him.

"This is kinda nice," he said. "Not big, but it's neat."

Sora turned to follow his gaze. "Yeah, it is." He glanced at Riku, cautious yet optimistic now that he'd gauged him some more. "Do you think I could use some of the garden to grow stuff? I only have a bunch of seeds, so we won't be able to harvest anything immediately, but—"

"Are you kidding? Yeah, I'd love that!"

His quick, earnest response got a smile out of Sora, even if he'd been expecting it by now. "Sweet. I'll have to have some flowers for the bees, of course. Then some vegetables over in that corner, and I can grow some aromatics and spices here—"

"Oh, speaking of your bees, do you do anything with the wax they make?"

"Um—" Sora had to take a moment to pause his visualization of what he could make of the garden and focus on Riku's question. "Not really, I usually find someone who'll buy it in whatever area I'm living in. Why?"

"Do you think _I_ could buy it from you? I can make stuff out of it. Candles, cosmetics, that kind of thing. I learned a couple years ago, in another town; one of my friends at the time also had bees."

"I— _huh_ ," Sora stuttered. "Tell you what: you teach me what you know, and I'll give it to you for free. We can just sell our surplus together and use that to pay part of the rent, right?"

Riku huffed out a soft gasp and smiled. "Works for me!"

* * *

A thunderstorm broke out while they hung out on the porch, bringing some welcome cool air in the otherwise hot summer day and scaring Donald and Goofy back into the house. As for himself, Sora was content with staying outside, however, breathing in the scent of rain and ozone. "I love thunderstorms," he said, eyeing Riku with curiosity.

"Me too," Riku said. "Wish we had a couch out here, or even just a bench. Perfect time to take a nap."

Sora beamed at his words. " _Right?_ Maybe we can look into that sometime!"

"Sure," Riku said with a faint laugh. Then he turned back to the garden and let out a sound halfway between a sigh and a moan. " _Shit_ , it was so hot today. This is so nice."

"Yeah. I feel gross from all the heavy lifting."

"Me too."

"Actually, y'know what would feel even better?" Sora pushed himself off the railing, grinning as he walked around Riku. He kicked off his shoes and pulled off his socks, abandoning them by the door, then walked out into the garden, taking a few steps on the humid soil and the cool grass before he paused, arms wide, his face turned up to the sky to let the rain fall on his face.

"What're you—" Riku stuttered. "It could be _dangerous_!"

"Relax, there's a lightning rod at the top of that building. Did my research before I moved in." Sora waved to an apartment building, not far down the street. He'd had his electronics fried _once_ , and that was enough, thank you very much. "We're in the safe zone." He turned back to Riku, beckoning him over. "Come on! This feels _amazing_!"

Riku looked at him with an apprehensive frown for a second; then, gingerly, he removed his boots and took a first step in the grass, moving towards Sora's outstretched hand. Riku was just about to catch it when his foot slipped in the increasingly slippery mud. Before Sora could do anything to catch him, Riku fell down, face first, with a sound halfway between a thud and a splash.

With a grunt, he pushed himself up on all fours and looked up at Sora. There was mud across his face, the sight of it so odd against Riku's silver hair, pale skin, and serious gaze that Sora couldn't help himself: he burst out laughing.

Riku's lips parted in surprise, then his face narrowed into a ferocious frown. Sora realized his intent a moment too late, when Riku had already pounced at him, the momentum sending Sora toppling backwards. The shock of hitting the ground knocked the breath out of his lungs, but Sora couldn't help but laugh again at the smug look on Riku's face as he loomed over him.

He had him pinned down, but Sora wasn't one to concede a fight this easily. He drew his legs back, feet firmly planted on the ground—as firmly as possible in the mud, anyway—and pushed, slipping up and out of Riku's grasp. "Classic hip escape," he bragged, already throwing himself back at Riku.

Riku gasped and rolled on his back, and Sora landed on top of him with a triumphant grin, their positions reversed. Then Riku pushed him off as if he weighed nothing at all, and Sora landed on his stomach next to him.

They kept play-fighting for long enough that the storm subsided, leaving them laughing on the grass, drenched and filthy, panting and exhausted. Sora made one final, weak attempt at a counterattack, but all he managed was to drape himself across Riku's chest before he gave up. The heaving of Riku's breath beneath him felt oddly comforting.

"Haven't done anything this childish in forever," Riku said.

"Well, then you should feel glad that _I'm_ in your life now," Sora said in a grandiloquent tone. He propped himself up on his arms to look down at Riku with a mockingly haughty gaze. "Someone to teach you the simple wonders of life and _fun_."

Riku only scoffed. "I know how to have _fun_. I just don't have a lot of time for it."

"Same thing."

"Whatever. Get off me, we'd better get cleaned up."

Sora whined, but moved out of the way nonetheless. The two of them got back to their feet, Riku immediately assessing the state of their clothes. "Well, we're _not_ tracking mud inside on our first day here. We haven't even finished unpacking, I'm not also going to clean the house today."

"Yeah, better not," Sora said. He pulled his shirt over his head, draping it over the porch's railing. He was halfway through unbuckling his belt when he caught Riku staring at him. "What? If we don't want to get mud everywhere, better leave the clothes outside until we have time for laundry."

Riku blinked rapidly and averted his gaze. "N-nothing."

Shrugging, Sora finished removing his pants, hung them next to his shirt, and did his best to wipe away the dirt from his feet so he could at least _walk_ inside. There was mud all over his skin, so it felt like a vain effort; some had even slipped under his shirt, all the way up to his shoulders and navel, and he didn't want to imagine the state of his face and hair.

Riku was still halfway through undressing when Sora glanced at him. "We're gonna need to shower," Sora said. "Or at least I am, but I assume you want one too. So who's first?"

"Well—" Riku stood up straight, his strong chest bare, slick with sweat and streaked with mud, the top button of his pants hanging open. His hands hung awkwardly in front of his chest, as if trying to cover himself. "Ansem said the hot water runs out pretty quickly, so both of us showering back to back might be a bad idea." He looked down at himself, grimacing. "But you're right, we could both use one."

"I don't know you're cool with cold water, but _I'm_ not." Sora grimaced, then the solution became apparent to him. "We could just shower together."

Riku was halfway through pulling his pants down, and he dropped them, looking up at Sora. " _What?_ "

Sra shrugged. "Yeah! We can save up time that way, right? Plus, it would conserve water." Riku gaped at him silently, standing up straight in boxer briefs, his hands still busying themselves with a vain attempt at covering up. "Unless you're uncomfortable with that, of course," Sora added hurriedly. Way to make a good first impression.

"No," Riku said, "I—it's a good idea. I've just never done that before, that's all."

"It's fine! We're all adults. It'll be fun!" To be fair, Sora had never done it before either, but he imagined it could be. "You'll see!"

* * *

They hadn't even gone to check out the house's upper floor, but it was pretty much the same as the ground floor; old and a little decrepit, potentially dangerous in places, but functional. They found the bathroom on their first attempt, with a shower stand as advertised. It wasn't massive, but definitely large enough for the two of them to fit inside together.

There wasn't much else in there in the way of toiletries, just two ratty towels; Riku had grabbed his shower gel from his suitcase on the way up, and it would have to do for now.

"All right," Sora said. "Let's see how this works—"

He shedded his underwear and stepped into the shower stall, looking at the knobs and trying to figure out the controls. After a moment, he had a satisfying stream of hot water running from the shower head, into his hair and down his back.

He looked back at Riku, who stood still a few steps away, his boxer briefs still on. "Come on!" Sora said. "Don't wanna waste the hot water!" Was he _blushing_? Sora was pretty sure he was.

"Right," Riku said. He pulled his underwear down in a smooth motion, one of his hands flying to his crotch to hide it while the other held the bottle of shower gel, and he stepped into the stall next to Sora. Sora had miscalculated the size of the stall a little; while they fit inside, there was no way for them to stand side by side without touching, and Sora felt the press of Riku's thigh against him.

Still, the hot water coaxed a sigh out of Riku, and he finally seemed to relax a little, working gel into his hands then passing the bottle to Sora. Their hands briefly brushed against each other as they did, and as they lathered up, more contact was inevitable; Riku's arm against Sora's side, their shoulders bumping into one another, Sora's hip against the soft flesh that had to be Riku's butt. Each was a fluttering touch, neither of them lingered on it very long, but it was still there, hot skin against hot skin under the spray.

When he lathered up his crotch, Sora realized he was half hard, and he couldn't help but freeze at the sensation. It wasn't surprising, exactly, but Sora hadn't realized it was coming until now. Clearing his throat, he turned around, hoping Riku hadn't noticed.

Just then, Riku said, "Can you pass me the shower gel? I need to wash my hair too."

Well, so much for discretion. "Sure," he replied meekly.

Now it was _his_ turn to try and hide himself, though the effort felt a lot more complex when one hand was no longer exactly enough. Riku was facing him too, and when he took the bottle from Sora's hand, Sora's eyes couldn't help but drift lower, following the water trailing down his chest. His free hand was also between his legs, but it hid even less than Sora's did: Riku's dick appeared to be fully erect—or at least, Sora assumed it was, because he couldn't imagine it growing any further.

Riku cleared his throat softly, and Sora looked up, unable to hide where he'd been looking. Nervous, he said the first thing that came to mind. "Hey, looking good, man!" Riku's lips parted into a gasp, but Sora continued. "It's fine. It's just natural, right?"

"Sure," Riku said. "Just natural."

"Yeah! Two bros, showering together in a small space. Boners happen. It's nothing."

A faint, nervous chuckle escaped Riku's lips. "Good. Glad we're on the same page."

* * *

While it was an awkward arrangement, it turned out Sora had been right to suggest it, because they were still rinsing themselves off when the water began to go lukewarm. With a yelp, Sora stepped out of the shower as quickly as he could, wrapping himself in one of the towels.

"That feels better," he said with a sigh. He glanced at his discarded underwear, and ignored it. The thought of putting it back on, with all the sweating he'd done today, didn't feel appealing. "I'm gonna go grab a change of clothes and get dried downstairs, okay? You can have the bathroom to yourself."

"Okay," Riku simply said. He turned off the faucet and took the other towel, wrapping it around his waist. "Thanks."

As Sora went down the stairs and looked for his abandoned bag, his mind lingered on the shower. Riku's skin against him, and the way his body had reacted. The brief glimpse he'd had of Riku, clad in just a towel, his hair dripping water down his chest—and earlier, how he'd looked sweaty and covered in mud. He felt another rush just at the memory of it.

That was definitely new, but not exactly unpleasant. If a little inconvenient, what with how easily he'd betrayed himself.

He got dressed quickly, leaving his hair to air-dry; now that the storm had passed, the air was already getting hot again, even this late in the afternoon, so he was sure it wouldn't take long. Leaving his towel by the staircase, he moved to the kitchen instead. He was starving by now, from the long road and everything else, and he guessed Riku might want a bite too.

During one of his many moves, he'd worked the kitchen of a fancy French restaurant, and ever since then, he'd retained a decent enough cooking ability, at least by his own estimate. Although what little was left in the pantry by their landlord wasn't exactly open to making anything gourmet, there were enough spices and herbs to make a decent meal out of it, and when Riku came down, he briefly paused as he entered the living area, turning his nose up subtly and breathing in deep.

"I made enough for two," Sora said. "Hungry?"

Riku's earlier awkwardness melted into a relieved sigh. "Yes please."

* * *

They didn't do much else to unpack that evening; they ate dinner, then Sora took his console out of its bag and plugged it in, starting a co-op game that Riku was all too happy to join. They sat together in the same couch, knees and shoulders bumping into each other sometimes when Sora got too rowdy, yet there was none of the earlier hesitation. It was nice, easy and effortless.

Then suddenly it was late, and while neither of them had plans for the next day, they were both tired from moving and ready to go get some sleep.

Which was the moment they realized that, out of the two doors they hadn't checked upstairs, one was an office room, with nothing in it that one could use to sleep in. Which left only one room as a bedroom.

And inside, there was just one bed. A double bed, to be sure, definitely good enough for two people to sleep in as advertised. Though not quite what two roommates who had met that same day might want.

"I should go sleep on the couch," Sora immediately said. His earlier thoughts still buzzed in his heads—of the way Riku had looked. He wasn't sure how sharing a bed would turn out for him. "Donald and Goofy will be happy to sleep with me."

"Sora, no," Riku said gently. "We were _just_ on that couch; it's not good enough to sleep on. I'd feel awful knowing you're downstairs and I'm in here."

"Well I can't let _you_ do it," Sora retorted. "You're bigger than me—I bet you won't even _fit_ on the couch."

"Then it's settled," Riku said. "We're both sleeping here." When Sora looked up to him, surprised, he simply shrugged. "What? Like you said, we're both adults. It's just _sleeping_."

"Y-yeah," Sora said, feeling his voice waver. "I guess you're right."

"Just checking, but you don't sleep naked or something, right?"

"No!" Sora felt himself blush at the thought. "No, it's fine. I even have pajamas packed somewhere. I think."

"Oh. I don't, actually. I usually sleep in my underwear."

Sora swallowed around his dry throat. "That's okay. Me too, actually."

"Okay. So we're good?"

"Yeah. We're good."

* * *

Sora was definitely _not_ good. The moment they were both under the cover—of _course_ it was just a single cover for the whole bed—and he could feel the heat radiating off Riku's skin, he was pretty sure he was going to lose his mind completely.

The bed wasn't even very large, probably the smallest double bed money could buy; it was comfortable enough, but there was no way to make room between them, especially if Sora wanted to remain under the cover. So they lay back to back, close enough that Sora could almost feel Riku's skin against his.

His brain spiraled with thoughts of what might happen, unprompted and completely new to his mind, and impossible to dismiss. Thoughts of turning around and reaching out, and seeing what came next. Not that he could _actually_ do that, considering he'd still have to _live_ with Riku the next day, even if he got rejected.

He didn't know how he finally fell asleep, but it hadn't been easy, his body restless and tense all the way until the moment he blacked out. When he woke up, it was from the feeling of Riku moving against him, letting out a faint, startled gasp.

"Mmm?" It was all the words Sora could manage for a moment. "What's going—"

He blinked the fog away, and realized the distance between them was _gone_. His face was a short distance from Riku's—and even then, Sora realized, only because Riku had just pulled back. One of Riku's arms was slung across Sora's body, though he was raising it now, but only hesitantly. Their chests were pressed flush against each other, warmth blooming across Sora's skin; their legs were tangled together. Sora could feel a distinct hard line pressed against him—and he had one to match. He wanted to pull away and hide it, but at the same time, there was a part of him, dizzy and excited, that wanted to cling to Riku for as long as he could.

"Um," Sora finally said. "Guess I moved while I slept, huh?"

Riku let out a nervous chuckle. "Me too."

He was right: they were in the middle of the bed, and had been facing away from each other; they had to have both moved. "Well—" The same excuse as last night came to Sora's lips all too easily, "It's only natural to look for warmth? And—"

"I don't think this is 'only natural'," Riku said, making Sora tense up. He glanced down, his intent obvious. "Or that." He breathed in deep. "I'm—attracted to you?"

The words, even as uncertain as Riku made them sound, knocked the air out of Sora's lungs. "Oh." He blinked. "I thought—that's not what I expected you'd say."

"Sorry, I'm being weird. It's not like—I mean, I've never been in a situation like this before. Usually I have time to make it clear before getting into bed."

The implication behind his words made Sora blush. "I get it," Sora said, his voice going breathless. "I, uh—I've never been attracted to a guy before, but—it's _kinda_ mutual?"

A scandalized frown crossed Riku's brow. " _Kinda_?"

"Okay, it's mutual. I'm into you." Sora felt a rush of relief now that the words were out, even as his heartbeat raged from the admission.

Riku stared into his eyes for a moment. "So…now what do we do?"

"I can think of _something_ ," Sora said. "I'm just—"

"Not sure how to get started?" Riku guessed, and Sora nodded. "You sure you're okay with trying?"

Sora couldn't help but scoff at that. "Have you _met_ me?" Then, he finally dared to move, reaching out to gently cup Riku's cheek. It felt good, fitting between his fingers like that. "Hell yeah I'm okay with _trying_."

A tender smile bloomed on Riku's lips. "Here, let me show you." He leaned forward, and kissed him.


End file.
